From ringside to bedside, Dr. Asa Andrew is here to keep you healthy.
“Faith and hope are the two greatest prescriptions for the health crisis we have in America today,” Dr. Asa told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
Dr. Asa’s path to having the #1 health talk radio show in the country is quite circuitous but the Doctor believes it is Jesus who is guiding his way. At 8-years-old Dr. Asa often went to the doctor for allergies.
During this time he recalled thinking of his doctor, “Okay, this person has the knowledge to help me feel better and do better in my life. So that really stuck with me. It really just got me down a path of wanting to be a doctor,” He added, “I just knew I wanted to help people. I wanted to help make their lives better.”
After college, Dr. Asa was a part of a motivational speaking team called the Power Team. “We preached in churches, we spoke in school assemblies. We did all these feats of strength. We had a TV show at the time on Christian television and I was traveling probably 250 days a year for a handful of years, and we were doing these large events. It was really great.”
As the Power Team came to an end a friend asked him to try out for Professional Wrestling, “And so I did. I tried out at the WCW in Atlanta. And I made it. There were 25 people trying out. Two of us made it in that class. So I got a contract. They wanted me to finish school. I was in school to get my doctorate and I had like, nine months left.”
It was not the right time for his wrestling career to start, “While I was finishing school, Vince McMahon bought WCW and they got rid of all the new developmental contracts. And so that seemingly was over.” Dr. Asa went on to say, “Then the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes [who trained me], had started a brand new wrestling company that came out called TNA wrestling. I was with Jeff Jarrett [who I grew up with] and that’s where I actually started wrestling on television was with TNA wrestling.”
However, God had other plans for Dr. Asa, “During that time my dad got ill with terminal cancer. I had worked so hard to get into pro wrestling and get kind of a spot in that world and Jeff said to me, ‘Go take care of your dad.’ That was the most important thing, and so I did. It was the best decision I ever made.”
Helping his mom in Nashville, Dr. Asa practiced medicine in Atlanta part-time and was speaking in churches around the country. He eventually left practicing medicine solely speaking in churches to better help his parents. “During that time, I spoke at a conference and I had met a guy in the green room named Dave Ramsey. When I met Dave, I didn’t really know who he was or what he did but he was a really cool guy.”
Back home in Nashville while running an errand for his mom, Dr. Asa stopped by Dave Ramsey’s place on a whim, “We always say that in South, stop by anytime, right? So I pulled in and he was in the middle of the show and he got this big glass booth, beautiful office. And he just told me to, you know, grab a seat or whatever kind of motion means sit down. So I did, and waited till he finished, and then he kind of want me around, show me around.”
Dr. Asa went on to say, “So saw his place, and then I went out to my car. I was leaving and I just thought, I wonder if it would work with health. Because remember, I got into this thing to serve others, right? I didn’t just get into it to get sit in a hospital and do lab work and be a scientist.”
He added, “I wondered if it would work with health the same way Dave does finance. So it just hit me. I went back in and told Dave. He said, ‘Well, I think a couple people have tried it with health and just wasn’t that great but you know what? If you feel like that’s on your heart, I’ll help you.’ And he did.”
Ramsey introduced Dr. Asa to the Program Director at Cumulus in Nashville. “I went in and I met with them and gave them the concept of the show they got me into a studio and I did like a full promo of what the show would be like.”
Dr. Asa recalled, “They loved it and said, we’ll be in touch. My dad died on April 30th, 2006 and my phone rang the next day. It was John [from Cumulus] And he said, we feel like it’s time for you to start and so we did so Memorial Day 2006 on a Sunday night. They put me on at 11:00 at night.”
Dr. Asa recalled his first show saying, “I had no idea what I was doing. But I will tell you, this is really interesting how God works. When I was on the Power Team, in every city that we would go to, we would hold a five day crusade. I would go on and get up every day at 4:00am [to promote the show]. I’d be the guy going to eight radio stations and do the live morning interview. I did that for years.”
He went on to say “All I did was my cheesy two-minute intro and it was long-winded and I tried to use all these cool catchphrases and all six lines lit up. And all lines were lit up the entire hour. I could not get to everybody.” Shortly after Dr. Asa’s show went from weekly to daily next to Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, and he’s been there ever since.
Dr. Asa believes America’s health crisis is about discipline and good choices. “We have more knowledge now than ever of what to do and the general principle of exercise more, eat less. Keep your calories lower than your baseline and you’ll lose weight. I think most people know at this point, but it’s the discipline to be able to get it done. I think that’s really what it comes down to.”
Part of how Dr. Asa encourages his listeners is through faith because he believes the country’s discipline problems stem from, “Lack of purpose. Lack of not knowing who you are. Not knowing who created you or why you were created or why you’re here. Not knowing that it’s what causes people to be lost. It causes people to not care about themselves or what happens to others.”
He added, “We definitely have a mental health crisis right now with depression and anxiety higher than ever. So that is a that’s a big deal and I think that comes from lack of not knowing who you are. And why you’re here. So faith plays a huge role. Because if you have faith, whatever that is, whether you’re a Christian, a Muslim, whatever your theology is. But having faith in God, he’s going to direct you.”
Additionally, Dr. Asa believes we all are to be in the service of others, “That’s what God’s called us all to do. I think if we’re all giving gifts and talents and abilities. Some have more than others, and there’s a parable about it in the Bible. Parable of the talents. God gave one to one person. [God] gave three another and to another one [God] gave five.
“And so we’re all given those talents, and I believe that that’s our number one goal really here is to use those gifts and talents, whatever they are, to serve others and to help make their lives better in whatever way we can.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
